Marchand does it all, but Bruins fall to 'Hawks in shootout

Recap: Things were looking a little bleak in
the opening frame for the Black and Gold, who were giving up too
many odd-man rushes and got beat by the Blackhawks' top line on a
goal from Matian Hossa 4:13 into the contest. Boston started to
settle down and got a big goal from Brad Marchand with 19 seconds
left in the period.

They picked up right where they left off in the second, with
Marchand coming in alone and tucking a shot through Corey Crawford
to put Boston up 2-1. Chicago responded at 9:44 when Brandon Bollig
scored from an atrocious angle on a shot that found its way in
between Tuukka Rask and the near post.

The B's dominated the third period, outshooting Chicago by a
2-to-1 margin (14-7). But they squandered two precious power-play
chances along the way and set the 'Hawks up for a man advantage
when Matt Bartkowski boarded Connecticut native Ben Smith with four
seconds left in regulation.

Boston was able to kill off the penalty and the game went to the
shootout, where Marchand answered a Jonathan Toews tally, but
Patrick Kane's pace-changing deke between the hash marks was enough
to fool Rask, as No. 88 in red buried the game-clincher in the
third round.

Records: Chicago 32-8-11, 75 points; Boston
30-15-3, 63 points

Key Play of the Game: When Doc Emrick pointed
out that Patrick Kane was 0-for-9 in shootouts right before he, of
course, scored the game-winner. Holler at a jinx!

Connolly's Commendations: Marchand is
officially on fire, and that's not a reference to The Great Chicago
Fire of 1871 (then again, really, who would've suspected that?). No
63 literally did it all for Boston in this one. He now has 10 goals
in the last 17 games.

Despite letting in a soft goal in the second period, Rask was
dynamite throughout the rest of the contest. It's been a
roller-coaster month for No. 40, but he stepped up big time against
the league's highest-scoring offense.

Connolly's Critiques: If Boston could've done
anything on one of their three power plays, overtime never happens.
Chicago's under 80 percent on the PK, but the B's still have just
one goal on the man advantage in 2014.

Final Thoughts: The Bruins got smacked around
by the Ducks and Kings earlier this month, which wasn't a great
sign if you were hoping they'd stack up well against the best of
the West. But in Sunday's matinee, they fared well against the
Central Division-leading Blackhawks and, had they caught a break in
the third, probably should've come away with the two points.